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Defendants in Valley fraud to be sentenced this fall

Valley Investments principals reached plea deal; one faces trial

Sentencing will be in October for the two defendants who reached plea agreements with prosecutors planning the trial of Valley Investments owner Philip Rand Lochmiller.

Philip Rand Lochmiller II, and the elder Lochmiller’s executive assistant, Shawnee Carver, were to be sentenced in April, but that date was set back four months after a trial delay was granted for the elder Lochmiller. That trial was to begin last week, but was set back to allow defense attorneys time to examine computer records.

The plea agreements of the younger Lochmiller and Carver remain in force, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Carver’s plea agreement requires her to testify against her former employer. She faces up to five years in prison. The younger Lochmiller, who is Lochmiller’s stepson, faces up to 15 years in prison, five years for the conspiracy charge and 10 for money laundering for his role in an investment scheme.

The elder Lochmiller, who prosecutors said kept his criminal background from investors, faces trial on conspiracy, money-laundering and fraud charges.

Lochmiller’s trial is to begin July 5 in Denver before U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer.

Lochmiller pleaded guilty to 33 counts of securities fraud in 1986 in California. He founded Valley Mortgage, later called Valley Investments, in Grand Junction eight years later. State regulators closed the business in June 2009 and prosecutors said more than 400 investors lost more than $30 million when the company collapsed.

Sentencing for the younger Lochmiller and Carver is to be Oct. 14 in Grand Junction.